As a guest of Claudia Lässer, record national team goalscorer Alex Frei looks back on his successful career and the biggest setbacks. The spitting affair at the 2004 European Championship in Portugal had a particular impact on the goalscorer.
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- In the talk show "Lässer", Alex Frei talks about his great career and reveals which three setbacks have had a particular impact on him.
- These include the spitting affair at the 2004 European Championships, when Frei spat on the neck of opponent Steven Gerrard, but only admitted it after TV footage exposed the incident.
- Frei apologized then and now for his action. However, he does not want to take responsibility for everything that happened afterwards and talks about the serious consequences for him and his family.
It is June 17, 2004, and the Swiss national team is playing its second match at the European Championship finals in Portugal against the motherland of football, England - and is getting a raw deal. Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard score a brace to give the favorites an undisputed 3:0 victory.
However, the result quickly becomes a side note. Because shortly before the end, Alex Frei blows the fuses. The former Rennes goalscorer spits in the neck of his opponent Gerrard as he passes by. And because nobody - including the referees - noticed at the beginning, Frei and the Swiss FA deny the whole thing. President Ralph Zloczower even publicly speculates that Gerrard "may have been touched by a bee".
The consequences for the parents and the eight-year-old sister
In an interview with Claudia Lässer, Frei recalls traveling to Portugal with high ambitions after a strong club season: "My part at the time was that I had the feeling that I would now conquer the world and that I was the next superstar. That's why I made that mistake. I realize that today," says the 45-year-old.
Even 20 years later, Frei still rejects responsibility for everything that happened after the spitting attack. "They let me down. There are studies that clearly prove my theory, in which you can see what actually happened," says Frei. "I myself am to blame for what I did. I still distance myself from the rest today."
Because Frei listened to the association and only made a confession after TV pictures had long since convicted him, the exceptional striker came under heavy criticism as a result. "That doesn't just affect you. When your family has to justify themselves in the Coop, or when you have to say at school that your eight-year-old sister Andrea is still the same - no matter what her brother has done."
A separate topic in the Zischtigsclub
Then there is the wide media coverage. "I don't know how many sportspeople were the subject of their own stories in the Zischtigsclub. I'm not proud of it at all," says Frei, noting: "It was reported up and down the country. A lot of it was also untrue. That shapes you."
During this difficult time, Frei received the support he needed in France with Rennes. "My luck was that I could go 1000 kilometers away. I joined a team, told them that something had happened to me - and they said it happened to them three times a match. It wasn't an issue for them."
That was worth its weight in gold for the much-criticized Frei. Looking back, the Nati record goalscorer makes one thing clear: "I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It's not that easy."
